


Iced Latte Fashion

by literaryoblivion



Series: Freck's Inktober [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Coffee, Coffee Shops, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Meet-Cute, Motorcycles, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-10-11
Packaged: 2019-07-29 09:34:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16261496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literaryoblivion/pseuds/literaryoblivion
Summary: Steve is SO late to work on his first day and regrets stopping to get coffee. He regrets it even more when in his rush he spills it all over an attractive stranger.





	Iced Latte Fashion

Shit. He is so going to be late. And on his first day too! This is terrible. He’s going to get fired before he even starts. He thought stopping and bringing his new boss coffee would be a great gesture, and now he’s regretting the decision after the machine broke. He’s almost contemplating forgetting the whole thing and leaving, but he also kind of needs the coffee himself.

_ If I run, I could probably still make it on time _ , he thinks. If he had a bike, it’d be even better, but he can’t afford one… hence the new job.

“One Americano and one iced latte for Steve!” an employee shouts, setting two to-go cups on the pick-up counter. Finally!

Steve grabs the cups with a quick thanks and rushes out the door of the coffeeshop, only to trip on the step and run smack dab into someone and spilling his iced latte all over the shirt of the person he ran into. (The Americano’s lid was on more securely and wasn’t slippery with condensation like the iced latte).

“OH my god!” Steve said, aghast. “I’m so sorry!” He stares at the the long-haired man in front of him, button up shirt horribly stained and leather jacket dripping. When he finally gets a good look at the man’s face, slightly scruffy, he can’t tell if the man is angry or still stunned at what just happened. He can tell his damn cute though, which makes this situation twenty times worse.

Steve continues, “I… let me get some napkins.” Steve rushes back inside and grabs a handful of napkins from the sugar and cream bar and comes back out. Unthinkingly, he starts patting the man’s chest, and as soon as he starts doing that, he thinks he probably shouldn’t have done that to a total stranger. The man still hasn’t said a word, and Steve’s anxiety is increasing at the mess he’s created and how much later he’s going to be.

In the stranger’s silence, Steve can’t help but keep talking. “Seriously, I just… I was in a hurry, and I was trying not to be late. It’s my first day, and I just. Ugh, I’m sorry. I can… um buy you a new shirt? Maybe. Um when I get my first paycheck because this looks like a nice shirt and I don’t have a lot of money right now, but maybe I could borrow some from somebody, and--” He freezes because the man has moved to grab his wrist where he’s doing his best to soak up the coffee from the shirt (although the napkins are crap and are likely doing nothing whatsoever to help).

“It’s okay, man.” The way too kind, in Steve’s opinion, stranger gives him a small smile. “I just live a few blocks from here, I can go change. Do you, uh, need a ride so you’re not late?” He thumbs to the motorcycle that’s parked along the curb in front of the shop. “I can give you a ride before I go home? So you’re not late?”

“I-- what?” Steve says not really sure he heard right. He spilled coffee all over a stranger and word vomited on him, and now the man is saying it’s all good and can give him a ride??

“I’m pretty fast? I bet I could get you there on time, maybe even with time to spare.” He gives Steve a cheeky grin.

“Seriously? But, I… why?”

The stranger shrugs and has a shy smile when he says. “You’re pretty cute, and I want to keep talking to you but don’t want to make you late on your first day?”

Steve blushes. “I um, that would be… nice. Yeah, okay. I need to get to Stark Tower in about 10 minutes.”

The stranger hisses and glances at his watch. “Might be tough, but I think I can swing it. Come on, hop on,” he says as he goes back to his bike and pulls out two helmets from the small back trunk of the motorcycle. He puts his on and then turns to put the other on Steve, helping him buckle the strap beneath his chin since Steve still has a coffee in one hand and a fistful of napkins in the other.

He chuckles and takes the napkins from Steve and throws them into the trash can near them. He gestures with his chin to the cup. “You might want to finish that or throw it out. You’ll need both hands.” Then he gives Steve a wink that makes Steve’s whole face red.

Obliging, Steve drains the now lukewarm coffee that was technically meant for his boss, but he needs the caffeine. And as soon as it’s drained, he throws the empty cup into the trash can. The stranger straddles the bike, kicking up the kickstand and holding the bike up for Steve. It doesn’t take long, he’s ridden a motorcycle a total of once in his life several years ago in high school that belonged to his friend Peggy, but he vaguely remembers how he should get on and how to move with the stranger. Which… he should probably stop calling him that.

Once he’s straddling the bike, Steve says, “I’m Steve, by the way.”

The stranger looks behind him. “Name’s Bucky.” Then, he says, “Hold on tight,” before he flips his helmet close and starts the engine. Steve doesn’t even have the time to ask where to hold before they’re flying, so he wraps his arms around Bucky’s, admittedly damp and sticky, waist and holds on as they weave through traffic to Stark Tower.

He does in fact make it with a minute to spare and walks into his new job with a smile, Bucky’s number, and a plan to get coffee that neither of them wears. It’s a good first day.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [my tumblr](http://literaryoblivion.tumblr.com) or [my twitter](http://twitter.com/lit_oblivion).


End file.
